It is a truth (now) universally acknowledged that men have a weird thing for the Roman Empire. If you've ever seen a man gazing dreamily off into space and wondered, ‘What goes on up there?’, there's a good chance he's reflecting on aqueducts and gladiators and forums and, of course, the first roads.
Allow us to make a quick generalisation: most women don't think about the Roman Empire. Ever. Unless maybe we're in Rome or, at a stretch, Bath. Men, however, think about it all the time – apparently.
We might never have known about men's fascination with the Roman Empire if it wasn't for Saskia Cort, a Swedish influencer, who asked her Instagram followers to find out: how often do the men in your life think about the Roman Empire?
People were shocked to learn that there is in fact a common pattern. It turns out, lots of men think about the Roman Empire a lot of the time. For some, it's a few times a month. Some men think about it a few times a week. Some even think about it every day — including, apparently, Elon Musk.
Evidently, some men saw Gladiator and Rome and never looked back.
According to Cynthia Boaz, a political science professor at Sonoma State University, the fact that many men do seem to think about the Roman Empire, like, all of the time, isn't all fun and games, but is actually an example of “white cis gender masculinity” at play.
“As a political scientist who studies gender politics, I find this whole thing fascinating,” she said in a TikTok video. “First of all, I'm guessing most of the men who say they think about it all of the time are probably white, cis men. And it's no coincidence, because the Roman Empire is one of the most patriarchal and hierarchical societies that has ever existed. It is the epitome, the pinnacle of white cis gender masculinity.”
She added that the Roman Empire is remembered for “militarism, imperialism and infrastructure” along with qualities like “strength and authority”.
“It's all such a perfect example of how we internalise gender norms and values without even realising it,” she summed up.
Of course, men don't actually all spend their time reflecting on ancient Rome. However, the trend does speak to a very funny phenomenon — we all have our little obsessions that occupy our minds. For a lot of men, this fixation seems to be the Roman Empire. And women, of course, have their own fixations.
One TikToker took to the platform to wonder: do women have their own Roman Empire? What is that one weird thing we all think about all of the time?
“I am absolutely fascinated by the Roman Empire trend that's happening on TikTok,” she said in a video. “But what I want to know is what is the female version of the Roman Empire? Like what is something random that we all think about on a very regular basis?”
Popular responses included the Salem Witch trials, Meredith Blake from The Parent Trap, and the Eras Tour. Honestly, I have thought about all of these things at least once in the past week, so they might be onto something.
Now, many of us are taking to Twitter, TikTok and Instagram to share our own Roman Empires. Naturally, the results are hilarious. Whether it's Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, or even Tom Holland's iconic Lip Sync Battle performance of Umbrella, most of us have our own obsessive lore that occupies our minds.
Here are a few of our favourites:
While men thinking about the Roman Empire may be rooted in the ancient culture's patriarchal structure, there's no denying that the TikTok girlies' versions of the Roman Empire are endlessly entertaining. After all, we all have our little obsessions.
Now, back to thinking about the Roman Empire the Meg Ryan-Nora Ephron cinematic universe… for me!
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